Saed

Saed is a 37-year-old married man. He has a very big family that consists of nine children. He lives with his family in a village outside Sana'a governorate.

Though he has a small piece of land in his village, he decided to move to Sana'a few years ago to find better work because the income he gets from agriculture is not enough to cover the expenses of his big family. He first worked in a bakery for some years. His ambition was bigger than becoming just a worker. He always wanted to have his own bakery. He worked day and night to make his dream comes true.

Fortunately, he found a good bakery for sale. He was determined to buy it, especially since the price of the bakery is great. The only problem facing Saed is the money. He doesn’t have enough money, so he applied for a loan in the amount of 2,500,000 YER from Al-Amal Microfinance Bank to purchase the bakery. This bakery will create job opportunities for his sons to work with him, which will reflect positively on the economic situation of his family. It will also enable Saed to have a permanent and good income source and cover all the needs of his family.

Saed looks forward to making some changes in the bakery to provide better service for his customers and opening other branches in different quarters.

Additional Information

More information about this loan

This loan is part of Al Amal's program for small and medium sized businesses. It is designed to provide first-time funding to entrepreneurs and promote job creation. In addition to credit, borrowers receive relevant training.

In Yemen, where youth unemployment is as high as 55%, even among college graduates, employment opportunities are critical. However, newer businesses that could create jobs are often excluded from the formal financial system because they are considered to be too risky. It's estimated that every $500 lent to one of these startup enterprises creates 1.2 jobs. By funding this loan, you are supporting the growth of businesses that would otherwise not have access to capital or the opportunity to employ others.

About Al-Amal Microfinance Bank

Al-Amal reaches out to low-income micro-entrepreneurs and small business owners in Yemen with a suite of credit, savings, and insurance products tailored for Muslim borrowers. Before lending through Al-Amal, please consider the following:

1) Due to ongoing security concerns, full due-diligence of Al-Amal was conducted remotely rather than on-site. This makes Al-Amal atypical among Kiva's Field Partners, as Kiva staff have not conducted an on-site assessment. Al-Amal's assessment included in-person meetings with the top management in other, more secure locations in the Middle East.

2) Because Yemen is a new and unstable environment, there is a possibility that future loan repayments could be held indefinitely in the country for regulatory reasons, even if individual borrowers pay back their loans. As a lender to borrowers in Yemen, you accept this additional risk.

Additionally, all of Al-Amal's products are Sharia compliant and customized for its Muslim clients. Most of the loans are structured as Murabaha interest free loans. Al-Amal purchases goods for its borrowers and charges them a markup or fee. Al-Amal is also experimenting with Ijarah loans (an Islamic leasing product). For more information on Islamic microfinance, please click here.